Unions await details of FairPoint plans
Maine workers expect to hear options concerning $30 million in concessions at a meeting on Sunday.
By BETH QUIMBY, Staff Writer
October 31, 2009
Maine union employees of FairPoint Communications Inc. will meet Sunday in Portland to hear more details about the troubled company's plans for at least $30 million in union concessions.
"There is nothing that's off the table right now. We have discussed all kinds of things," said Peter McLaughlin, business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2327.
The local, along with the Communications Workers of America, represents the 800 union workers employed by FairPoint in Maine.
The $30 million figure emerged in documents FairPoint filed this week seeking protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, 18 months after it bought Verizon's landline operations in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont for $2.3 billion.
If its plan is approved by the court, FairPoint would give key lenders a stake in the company in exchange for lowering its debt from $2.7 billion to $1 billion.
According to the documents, FairPoint's creditors' "obligations to support the plan shall be null and void unless prior to the plan deadline, the company's unions for the (northern New England) operating companies agree to a minimum of $30 million in annualized cost reductions."
Although the unions had been discussing concessions with the company in the months leading up to the bankruptcy filing, McLaughlin said workers want to maintain the present pay and benefit package.
He said $30 million in concessions is a lot to ask the 2,700 union workers in northern New England to absorb. "That directly affects you when you go to the grocery store. It is a big deal," he said.
McLaughlin said the union will seek middle ground and try to reach some agreement with FairPoint within 45 days of Monday's filing. After that, the bankruptcy court will make the decisions.
He said there has been no talk of layoffs.
FairPoint officials declined to comment on the concessions Friday, citing an agreement between the company and the unions. "We are not talking about any of the details," said Jeff Nevins, company spokesman.
Sunday's meeting, which will be open only to union members, is a regularly scheduled business meeting, said McLaughlin. Similar meetings have been held for union members in New Hampshire and Vermont. He said he doesn't expect any action to be taken.
McLaughlin would not provide details on union wages and benefits for FairPoint employees.
The company employs about 4,000 people, including 2,700 union members, and operates 1.65 million phone lines in 18 states, most of them in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
Since switching over to its own computer systems nine months ago, the company has encountered technological and customer service problems that have led to severe public criticism and prompted inquiries by state utility regulators.
Staff Writer Beth Quimby can be contacted at 791-6363 or at:
bquimby@pressherald.com